Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



J. H. SEARS.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented Dec. 20, 1859.

lUNrTnn STaTns FFIQEO AT'TCNT J. HUNTER SEABS, OF BRANTFORD, CANADA VVES'I.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 26.526, dated December 20, 1859.

To all whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, J. HUNTER SEARS, a citizen of the United States, at present residing at Brantford, in that part ot' the Province of Canada known as Canada -West, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Brecch-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the-following :is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal central section of the breech and parts of the stock and barrel of a gun with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a top View of the same. Fig. 3 is a-transverse section taken close in front of the breech.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures My invention consists in a novel construction of and mode of applying a movable breech, whereby very great facility for loading and a very tight and secure joint between the breech and barrel are obtained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the barrel,screwed into the breech-supporter B, which may be made of malleable cast-iron or other metal, and which is secured to the stock C in a suitable manner. The chamber for the charge is within the barrel itself.

The movable breech is composed of two principal pa1ts-Viz.,theblock or breech piece D, which is fitted into a cavity, b b, provided for it in the breech-supporter B, and is hinged to one side of the breech-supporter byahinge, a a, the axis of which is parallel with the bore of the barrel, and a screw, E, which screws through the block D, and whose axis when the block D is in the cavity Z) b, stands lin line with the axis of the bore of the barrel. To the front end of the screw E there is fitted and iirmly secured a stout ring or cap, f, of copper, the front portion of which is turned to fit into the rear portion of the chambervl v3 of the barrel and against a shoulder, c c, at the rear of the barrel, and which is fitted with a conical plug, d, upon which the force evolved by the explosion acts to cause the outward expansion of the said ring or cap f against the sides of the chamber. The neck ofthe screw E, which extends some distance beyond the rear of the block D, through a lesser cavity, jj, provided in the breech-supporter B, behind the cavity b b, is furnished with a short lever, g, by which to turn it to insert it within and draw it from the chamber The screw E should be double threaded, or have so quick a pitch that a little more than a quarter of a revolution will be sufficient to force the ring 0r cap f as far into the chamber as is desired,

and withdraw it therefrom. A shoulder, e, is

provided on the screw or its ring or cap f, to prevent it being drawn back farther than is lnecessary to withdraw the ring or cap irom the chamber. At that side of the gun which is to the left-handin looking from the muzzle toward the breech there is a latch-spring, h, Fig. 3, which, when the breech is closed, enters a slot, i, in the lever g, and locks the breech.

The operation is as follows: Suppose the breech to be closed, as represented in Figs. l and 2, and in black outline in Fig. 3, and the gun to be held with the two hands in the usual manner, the right hand upon the small part of the stock in rear of the breech, the right thumb is placed against the end of the latchspring h, and thelatter pulled aside in the slot z far enough to liberate the lever g, which is then raised by the thumb and finger and thrown over toward the opposite side of the gun, about as far as represented by blue outline in Fig. 3, or far enough to draw the ring or cap f of the screw -C out of the chamber and bring the shoulder e to a bearing against the block D, when the screw being prevented turning any farther'in the block, the continued pressure against the lever gmoves the block on its hinge upward and outward from the cavity b b to about the positionshown in red outline in Fig. 3, leaving the chamber z' i open so that a cartridge may be inserted therein through thev cavities j j and b b ofthe breech-supporter, and when this is done the breech-block B is pushed back into the cavity b b, and the lever g moved back to the position shown in black outline, which carries the screw forward and forces the ring or cap j" close up against the shoulder e p and into'the rear of the chamber t' t'.

I wish it to be understood that the collar or cap f and the conical plug d may be dispcnsed with by making the front end of the Combining and applying the hinged breechscrew E of a Valve-like character to fit a seat piece D and the breech-screw E, substantially within and around the rear of the chamber i as herein speciied, so that the force applied i; but the tightness of the joint at the breech t0 a lever attached to the screw may-serve to may be better insured by the use of the said first withdraw the screw and afterward throw ring` or cap and conical plug. p i out the breech-piece, as herein described.

I do not elainnseparately,either the use of a b1eechpiece, which opens by a movement up- J. HUNTER SEARS. Ward and outward 0n a hinge parallel with the i bore, or of a screw screwing up against or to- Ttnessesz ward a seat at the rear ofthe chamber; but FREDK. MARTER,

What I claim as my invention7 and desire to C. B. W'Oon,

secure by Letters Patent7 is- Of the town of Brantford, Notary Public, 'c. 

